ADJECTIVE ORDER

and other words that come before nouns

Created by Robert Eastland

Article, Possessive, Quantifier,

Number, or Demonstrative First!

a/an
the
my
their
some
many
any
this
those
etc.

Number after article (or in place of)

Three (e.g., The three students at the front
of the class were early.)
First (e.g., The one thing I learned was
how to smile.)
Many- used with plurals (e.g., There are
many mountains in Canada.)
Some- usually used with uncountable
nouns (e.g., I would like some water.)

First Orders

Possessive OR article- a/n, the

first, next and last (previous)
numbers-one, two, three, etc.
The first three days
His last two jobs
My next holiday

Next-Opinions before Facts!

'OPINION' ADJECTIVES

Adjectives like beautiful and nice are

opinion adjectives. They tell us what you
think about somebody or something.
'FACT' ADJECTIVES

Adjectives like new, large, and blue are

fact adjectives. They give us
factual information about age, size, and
color.

Examples of opinion before fact:

- an interesting (opinion) old (fact) book

- some refreshing (o) cool (f ) water
- A nice (o) Spanish (f) guitar
- A delicious (o) chocolate (f) cake
- a pair of classy (o) leather (f) shoes
- A beautiful (opinion) small (f) yellow (f)
Chinese (f) doll

Fact Adjectives (there are many, many

categories here are some of them):
SIZE:
How big?
Large, small, tiny,
enormous
AGE:
How old?
New, young, old, ancient
SHAPE: What shape? Square, round,
rectangular, flat
COLOUR: What color?
Blue, pink, yellow, green
ORIGIN: Where from?
Thai, Canadian,
American, Chinese
MATERIAL: What it is made of? Plastic, metal,
glass, wooden
PURPOSE : What it is used for? Racing car, frying
pan, sleeping bag

Adjective Order (examples):

a wonderful old Italian clock (opinion - age
- origin)
two big square blue boxes (dimension shape - color)
fresh blue cotton sheets (opinion - color material)
a pair of slim new French pants
(dimension - age - origin)

Although there are exceptions, adjectives of

size and shape often come first.
The round glass table (NOT the glass
round table)
A big, modern brick house (NOT a
modern, big brick house)
A pair of Long steel poles
A tall, ancient oak tree

Adjectives of color, origin, material

and purpose usually go in that order.
Color origin material purpose noun
red
Spanish leather riding boots
brown German
beer
mug
Venetian glass flower vase

Too Much to Remember?

Probably, but practice will help
Try not to use too many
adjectives at once!
If you cant remember, use a
chart!